How can I move my programs and files to a new PC?

I enjoyed your article about buying a Dell Vostro as a good, no-nonsense option, and I am thinking of doing that to replace an old Dell Dimension E520. The Vostro that I have my eye on has Windows 7 whereas my current desktop has Vista. My concern, as an elderly duffer, is the potential cost of renewing expensive programs. Will my Microsoft Office 2007 and Adobe Elements 6 discs still be compatible with the new machine?

Will I also be able to transfer my documents and my email addresses and emails, and tools such as Adobe Reader and Flash? What are the possible expenses/pitfalls in upgrading to a new computer from an old one?

Richard Lynas

Microsoft Office 2007 will work well on your new Windows 7 PC. Adobe Elements 6 came out before Windows 7, so it may not be fully compatible. The Windows compatibility centre allows users to vote on whether a program is compatible or not, and the current score for Elements 6 is 3-3.

Microsoft recommends a paid upgrade, but buying the current Adobe Elements 12 will cost you $69.99 from Adobe (until January 9) or about $96 from Amazon.com (and personally, I'd go for the boxed DVD). There have been lots of improvements since Photoshop Elements 6 came out in 2007, so it may well be worth upgrading.

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Commercial programs sometimes have problems because software companies now track licences online. A second installation may be seen as a pirate copy. For this reason, it's a good idea to uninstall programs from your old PC before you install them on the new one. If Photoshop Elements 6 doesn't load in Windows 7, or says “Licensing for this product has stopped working,” then you will need to Apply the Licensing Service Update.

When you get your new Vostro, you will need to go through an automated setup process that sets the time, date and location, and creates user accounts with names and passwords. After that, go to Windows Update and install the latest patches. To do this, click the Orb in the bottom left, type up into the search box, and select Windows Update. With luck there will not be many. However, Windows Update installs files in batches, so it's important to go back several times. If Windows 7 installs 12 updates, that doesn't mean there are only 12 updates to install. There could well be hundreds.

Once Windows 7 is up to date, you can think about removing any potentially unwanted programs or PUPs, which I wrote about recently. The only ones you are likely to get with a Dell Vostro are Dell's backup software, which you should keep, and a free trial anti-virus program, which you can remove if you want. This may involve going to the AV supplier's website and downloading a “removal tool”. I'd certainly look for one as modern anti-virus programs are plumbed in very deeply, to try to prevent malware from disabling them.

If you want a free anti-virus program, Avast! and AVG Anti-Virus Free 2014 are good options. Many people use the lightweight but less thorough Microsoft Security Essentials, in which case it's a good idea to run periodic scans with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. In fact, that's never a bad idea.

Install free utilities

Most of us use some of the thousands of free Windows utilities such as, in your case, Adobe Reader and Flash. In general, you should not transfer these from one PC to another: download the latest versions instead. You can do this by visiting a lot of different websites, or you can get them all from an app store, All My Apps. It can also remind you of upgrades, but if you find that annoying, you can uninstall the All My Apps program or turn it off. Tucows and MajorGeeks are also good sources.

For Windows 7, I use and recommend the Firefox browser, Secunia's Personal Software Inspector, Slimware's SlimCleaner, Piriform's CCleaner, Paint.net, FreeFileSync, DoubleKiller, Dropbox, the Windows Live suite (if not already installed) and the K-Lite Codec Mega Pack. I also use Media Player Classic instead of Windows Media Player, and Cubic Reality's CubicExplorer instead of Windows File Explorer, though these may not be to everyone's taste.

Don't install Oracle's Java at this stage, as it's a security risk. You can install it later if you find you can't do without it.

When downloading utilities, either use All My Apps (or a similar trustworthy site) or links from the supplier's website. Avoid using links from Google adverts. Also, be extra careful when installing free programs, because some software suppliers earn money by foisting unwanted programs on you. These PUPs include toolbars from Ask or Google, or Google's Chrome browser. Be extra extra careful when installing things from Adobe and Apple.

In a few cases, you may want to copy a utility from your old PC because you don't like the latest version. I have a couple of these, such as Wisdomsoft's ScreenHunter Free version 4 (a screen capture program) and Microsoft's FreeCell and Cards.dll from 2004. There are several websites that stock old versions of programs including oldversion.com and Old Apps.

Backing things up

Setting up a Windows PC just the way you want it takes time, and you don't want to do it more than once. To avoid this, I use Windows 7's Backup and Restore program to take a snapshot of the hard drive and store it somewhere safe. The Vostro hard drive includes a hidden Recovery Partition, but this may take you back to the beginning, with no updates etc. When fully set up with programs and data, run Windows 7's Backup and Restore or Dell's DataSafe Local Backup program to back up your PC to an external hard drive, and keep it backed up on your chosen schedule.

I also keep separate backups of important folders such as My Photographs and My Work. I use FreeFileSync to copy these to another external hard drive. The routines are saved so I just have to click the BatchRun.ffs_batch file and then hit the Synchronize button. Current work files, created in Microsoft Office, are backed up to my 25GB Microsoft SkyDrive so I can get at them from anywhere. Everybody has different requirements: just figure out what works for you.

Finally, a small confession. I think I have given you appropriate advice, but there are lots of ways to do things. When I switched from a Dell Dimension running Windows XP to a Vostro running Windows 7, I did it slightly differently. I took the hard drive out of the old PC, slotted it into an IT-735 USB2 / e-SATA combo 3.5”³ SATA Hard Drive Enclosure bought from Amazon, and plugged it into a USB port on the new PC. This made copying files much easier. I've forgotten which registry hack I used to take ownership of the old drive, but Ownership Changer should do the job.

Either way, a good new PC should be dramatically faster and much smoother running than your seven-year-old Dell Dimension. I reckon you'll be sorry you didn't upgrade earlier.

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